Edible Soil Project

For our first science lesson of the new school year, I really wanted to get the students excited about getting dirty. What better way than to study dirt? Do you know the difference between soil and dirt? Simple geography. When it’s outside, that stuff is called soil. However, if it gets tracked inside on your carpet, say by your beloved pet for instance, then it instantly becomes plain ol’ dirt!

Soil Resources

Our lesson objective was to identify and describe the components in soil. After spending time reading about the soil horizons, and taking notes, we ended our week-long study by creating (and eating!) an edible soil project. I found some excellent resources for this on the Internet, such as…

Soil Profile Foldable

As part of our research, we created foldables that served two purposes. First, it showed on the top layer the five layers we learned about in a soil profile – humus, topsoil, subsoil, parent material, and bedrock. Under each flap of the foldable, students wrote what was in the soil at each layer.

I love how this student drew in rocks at the parent material and bedrock layers! That was their own idea, too, and I quickly encouraged others to follow this example.

Students wrote the components of each layer in the soil profile under the appropriate flap on our foldables. Later, we glued the completed foldables in our Learning Notebooks for future reference.

Edible Soil Project

Finally, we concluded our lesson by creating our edible soil project. You can easily find many variations of this project on the Internet. Use one you find, or do what I did and make your own “recipe.” Be sure, of course, to check for any food allergies among your students and use only those ingredients that would be appropriate and safe.

Here are all the ingredients I bought for our edible soil project. Next year, I will definitely ask for donations from parents!

I created an assembly line for our edible soil project.

Here’s a PDF with the recipe I used to create our edible soil project. I’m already looking forward to doing this project again with my next group of 4th graders!

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Welcome! I am Sally Camden, a 4th grade teacher in the great state of Missouri. I love teaching, my dog, and shopping. I'm also a die-hard fan of the St. Louis Blues and an avid reader. Thank you for joining me on my blog - read my posts and grab some freebies! Read More…